Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Case Study for Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Client: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, GA | LEED Gold Certification
The Federal Reserve Bank’s building achieved LEED® Gold Certification on May 13, 2013. This process was lead and managed by Asa Posner, a Senior Sustainability Consultant, at Sustainable Investment Group (SIG).

Overview
The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank provides office and administration space for the Sixth Federal Reserve District, covering the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and parts of Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. With additional branch offices in Birmingham, Nashville, Miami, Jacksonville, and New Orleans, the building had to be wired for high speed network access and excellent teleconferencing capabilities. The primary work that goes on inside its marble facade is monetary policy management, bank supervision and regulation, and coordination and oversight of the nation’s interstate payment system.
Built from White Cherokee Marble quarried in Tate, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta matches the exteriors of several other prominent Atlanta landmarks. The 10-story office tower has 735,311 square feet of usable floor space, with several conference rooms and assembly areas, as well as a cafeteria, and the Atlanta Museum of Money. The physical facilities are managed by an internal engineering team and facilities maintenance department. The Bank is located at 1000 Peachtree St. NE in midtown Atlanta.
The bank building’s layout has three entrances, with the public entrance on Peachtree street. Bank employees have a second entrance around the corner, reserved for employees making the commute via MARTA, and there’s a third-floor entrance via the attached parking structure in the back of the building. All entrances are secure and have screening checkpoints.
The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank hired Sustainable Investment Group to shepherd the building through LEED® certification, and the building was certified LEED® Gold in May of 2013. Originally constructed in 2001, the building had already had significant efforts in place for environmental sustainability, as part of an overall coordinated effort by the Federal Reserve to focus on the sustainability of new construction and long term facilities operation.
Highlights of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta LEED Gold Certification Program include:

  • A greater focus on carpooling and cutting down conventional commuting. Atlanta’s ring-road and highways are among the most congested and traffic snarled in the country. Bank employees have full support for walking, biking or using the MARTA rail system to get to work. Sustainable Investment Group engineers worked with the city of Atlanta planning department to coordinate the MARTA link for the building.
  • 70% of the bank’s waste stream (paper products and similar) are diverted for recycling rather than going to landfills.
  • A 33% reduction in water use compared to buildings of comparable size.

SIG’s Role on this building:

  • LEED consultant
  • Outside air calculations
  • ENERGY STAR benchmark and award
  • Energy Audit
  • Retro-Commissioning (RCx)
  • Stormwater calculations

LEED Certification Level: LEED® Gold
ENERGY STAR Score: 78 (at time of LEED certification)
Total Square Feet: 735,311
SIG team members that worked on this project:

  • Asa Posner, Senior Sustainability Consultant
  • Scott Baker, Director of Technical Services
  • Jeff Stewart, Mechanical Engineer, ENERGY STAR Team Lead
  • Derek Groninger, Senior Energy Engineer

Fun Fact about the building or project:
Was the third Federal Reserve Bank to earn the LEED® O+M: Existing Buildings certification (Cleveland and Chicago were the first two).
Building Address:
1000 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30309